


Legacy

by hollyandvice (hiasobi_writes)



Series: Holly's Round Seven H/C Bingo Card [23]
Category: The Seer and the Sword
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-09
Updated: 2016-10-09
Packaged: 2018-08-20 11:13:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8246753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hiasobi_writes/pseuds/hollyandvice
Summary: For years Landen had upheld the last legacy of Bellandra--of her age of peace--and now, tonight, he will cast it aside for--


  For the High King.

Landen ruminates on what still remains of his kingdom and why he is willing to lose those last remnants.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta'ed. Written for H/C Bingo Round 7.

As he stares out over the ocean, knowing what comes, Landen thinks again of his father, of his home and his legacy. Tonight, the final drop of Bellandran blood in his veins may at last be extinguished. Years of teachings, of the legacy of peace, on the verge of being dashed as the waves against the rocks. _Find someone who can teach you to fight,_ his father had said, but not kill, never to kill. For years Landen had upheld the last legacy of Bellandra--of her age of peace--and now, tonight, he will cast it aside for--

For the High King.

That is, perhaps, the only salvation that Landen will find this night. That by taking the men out into the deeps he might not only serve the High King, but also bring about the peace for which he has so long struggled. The Sliivites pose a greater threat to peace this night than Vesputo does, and that is all Landen can protect. This night, this bay, this town.

_The moment is vast._

All Landen can protect is this moment, and that is what he will do, even if it takes the last ounce of his country's legacy from his soul. Even if he loses the last remnants of his peaceful nature. Even if the blood of Bellandra's royal line ends tonight, he will have done what he could to protect the present moment, and that is perhaps the last teaching of Bellandra that he can retain. His men are counting on him, the village is counting on him, the High King is counting on him.

Landen knows better than most the costs of war, and, though he must close his eyes to remove the vision of his father's bloodstained robes from his mind, he knows that not all blood is spilled with such reckless disregard for human life. He thinks instead of Sakor's severed head, of the blood he drew in the Desan games, of the battles he himself fought under Emid's careful training. There is so much more than respect or money or a child's promise at stake here. There are lives, an entire village waiting on him and his men to protect them, and that, at least, is something that Landen understands.

When the High King approaches him, then, Landen is not so much ready as he is resolved. The loss of life he can prevent this night is what tethers him to this world, and is all that he carries within his breast as he speaks to the assembled men. The blood and soul of Bellandra may be lost this night, but so long as Landen endeavors to keep her memory alive, he can honor his father's last wish. He can be the prince--the _king_ \--he was once meant to be. He can protect this world to the last, and bring her to safety and salvation.

If that is his last act, perhaps the gods will forgive his inability to heed his childhood teachings.

_The moment is vast_ and so is the sea. Let her swallow him whole and make right the treachery he commits this night.

**Author's Note:**

> [Come hang with me on tumblr!](http://hollyandvice.tumblr.com/)


End file.
